Witch Training Institute

They flew along a route called Garden Street on the ground and Flower Valley in the sky. The sky was scorching, but Jiang Han had no recollection of this route, so she slowed her broom.

The Flower Valley route was dotted with countless floating chunks of earth, each only a few cubic meters in size. Flowers and trees covered them, making the route look like a green asteroid belt.

She adjusted her angle and descended a little, settling beneath the shade of the trees in the sky. As the slightly cool breeze brushed past, Jiang Han watched Fox Witch flying ahead of her, in high spirits.

Her "driving skills" were excellent—not too fast or too slow, and it was convenient to follow her. Her handling was practically on par with the chauffeurs of the officials Jiang Han had known before she crossed over. She had been a little disappointed in her driving skills in her previous life, but in this world she'd become rather adept at flying a broom. With a little more courage, she could even pull off some flashy stunts.

Every now and then, they spotted witches taking a break on tiny floating islands, holding books as they read.

One witch was eating hot pot and reading on a tree-covered island. When she saw Jiang Han fly by, she smiled and raised her hand in salute, four fingers together and thumb tucked into her palm, fingertips held to her brow. "Hello, comrade."

Jiang Han paused, then raised her hand to imitate the salute. She nearly knocked off her witch's hat.

The witch laughed softly.

"Hello, comrade. Goodbye, comrade," Jiang Han murmured, then picked up speed to catch up with Li Li.

Once they left the Flower Valley route, the air grew scorching in an instant. These days, the Witch World had gas stations of all sizes, with several along every route. They looked like small floating platforms connected to the ground by old-fashioned lifts. Each was a ring-shaped platform with a floating ball of water in the center, radiating cold. Benches for resting and vending machines selling drinks lined the ring.

She also saw griffins, enormous falcons used as mounts, and the distinctive witch taxis.

These taxis were square floating chunks of earth, about four meters long, four meters wide, and two meters tall. Trees had been fashioned into a little treehouse that looked like a witch's woodland cabin. There was no door. Passengers could sit inside, where they'd find magazines, drinks, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Two or three griffins pulled the taxi, and between them was a seat wide enough for two, serving as the driver's control station. The witch chauffeur sat there, directing the griffins and the little floating room behind them.

Most of the chauffeurs were pretty and carried themselves well.

Like taxi drivers in the nineties and early 2000s, they were confident, enjoyed high status, and were much wealthier than ordinary wage earners. Some even used their family's own vehicles for business.

"My family used to have one," Li Li said.

"Oh?" Jiang Han thought, If they used to have one, that means they don't anymore. Looks like Li Li's family used to be well-off. But that's not too surprising. With all the magical items she has, her ancestors must have been quite something.

"We sold it after we moved south and saved up to buy a house in South City," Li Li said, sounding a little regretful.

"Buying a house is pretty good, too. Prices should go up soon, right?"

Jiang Han thought of the news about the gigantic Folded Space. It seemed the news hadn't leaked yet, since house prices in South City were still steady. They weren't particularly high or low: for less than two hundred thousand yuan, you could buy a Sky Island of about two hundred square meters. Property was cheap in the Witch World, but if the news got out, prices might start soaring.

A large number of Archwitches from all over the world might even apply for temporary residence permits and move to South City.

No matter how much there was to develop, land prices were bound to shoot up.

Comrade Jiang Xuan really did have good relations with her superior and the heads of various departments. She'd managed to learn even this kind of news. Her family had been saving lately, hoping to buy two more Sky Islands.

"Mm, they'll go up soon," Li Li said.

They chatted about property prices for a while. After cautiously discussing how the Folded Space would inevitably drive them up, they seemed to grow a little closer.

Both were interested in the Griffin Taxi, so they went straight to one marked "Wine Immortal Ridge—All Areas, All Airships."

The driver was a petite witch with black hair and golden eyes, about the same size as Jiang Han. She wore a red miniskirt robe, red sandals with open toes, short red socks, and a red witch's hat. When the two approached, she greeted them energetically. "Yoho! Where are you headed, ladies? Anywhere in Wine Immortal Ridge for ten yuan. Drinks and fruit are on the house!"

Jiang Han nodded. Ten yuan seemed fair; a witch bus ticket cost about two yuan and fifty cents to travel through a single district. "We're going to the airship at the Dream Garden South City Witch Training Institute."

The driver nodded. "Sure thing. It's above the Sea of Spirits Mist in Wine Immortal Ridge."

Getting aboard was a little awkward. The floating room was rather high, and Jiang Han didn't think she could jump up, so Li Li had to lift her aboard with both arms. But once inside, Jiang Han felt much more cheerful. The space was roomy and comfortable, and a stone radiating cold sat by the left window of the treehouse room. It was like riding in a car with built-in air conditioning.

The driver gave a soft whistle and flicked the reins.

Unlike riding a broom, sitting in the Griffin Carriage immediately put her at ease. There was none of the on-and-off tension she felt when controlling a broom. Even Li Li, who usually looked rather serious, had her eyes half-closed in relaxation, her fox ears twitching now and then.

Since her companion was rather large, Jiang Han could observe her up close despite the carriage's spacious interior.

She could finally make out the blue glowing spell-runes along the waist of Li Li's skintight outfit, which had caught her attention earlier.

They were a line in Latin:

[The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles]

...What the hell, the Communist Manifesto!

Jiang Han couldn't speak for a long moment. It felt both perfectly reasonable and utterly surreal. Sure, foreign witches could put lines from the Bible or other famous works on their wands or robes. So why couldn't witches in New China put communist slogans on their underwear? It made perfect sense.

The only thing was, the black skintight bodysuit was a little too sexy, and didn't quite align with the core values of modern society. But from another angle, she was covered from head to toe. Even her hands and feet were inside the suit, and most of her neck was covered. What gave anyone the right to call it sexy?

The driver outside was dressed much more revealingly!

Jiang Han looked away and gazed out the window. Wine Immortal Ridge was home to a vast number of Sky Islands, with countless liquor springs flowing across them. It was also the country's largest producer of Wine Stone. Wine Stone was a material commonly used in mid-level spells and potions. It looked like a small piece of amber-colored stone; soak it in water for half an hour, and the water around it turned into a low-proof alcoholic drink. The better the Wine Stone, the stronger the drink it produced.

Wine Immortal Ridge was also famous far and wide for its spectacular sea of liquor mist.

Every year, a few unlucky witches would absorb too much of the liquor mist, get drunk near Wine Immortal Ridge, and become the subject of jokes passed around at the local police station.

As they ventured deeper into Wine Immortal Ridge, the surroundings grew increasingly primitive. They could see strange beasts on the ground, and the air carried the smell of malt liquor.

The smell grew even stronger once they reached the strong liquor mist. The witch driver had to pull out her wand and conjure a transparent filter mask.

The place reminded Jiang Han of the immortal sects in cultivation novels, like Mount Shu. Her cheeks flushed a little as she thought, If an immortal sect were built here, everyone who came out would be a wine immortal.

A huge airship was moored above the thick liquor mist. It was about four hundred meters long and forty-six meters wide—a truly colossal vessel. There were numerous docking platforms on its lower level, where Griffin Carriages and witches on brooms could land before boarding.

"Here we are, ladies," the driver said as she stopped on a platform.

"Sorry for the trouble," Li Li said first, then paid the fare.

After getting off the Griffin Carriage and showing their tutoring-class credentials, they soon arrived at the café on the airship's upper level. They admired the scenery and read while waiting for the instructor.